Sunday, 28 September 2014

As we travel south on the coast of Norway, and as you might
expect, temperatures continue to get milder. Norway spans so many degrees of
latitude that we have gone from the chilly Arctic to relatively balmy northern
Europe, and we have never left the country!

Yesterday we visited the island of Frøya and enjoyed the
opportunity to stretch our legs in town. A local salmon magnate had donated 55
million Norwegian kroner towards the building of a beautiful new cultural
centre for the town.

Some brave passengers ventured into the stormy sea on two fast boats for an amazing rafting excursion. All came back wet and happy!

The hurricane-force storm we have been in for the last two
days abated a little but it was still a bumpy night as we sailed further south
to our destination of Åndalsness, but the bumping and grinding was worth it!
What a beautiful place Åndalsness is!

The town is set on a fiord at the
entrance of a spectacular, steep-walled glacial valley. Excursions took us on bus rides up the valley
to the Troll Peaks and Trollveggen- the tallest rock wall in Europe at 1100
metres from top to bottom. It is a famous climbing location and is also used as
a platform for base jumping. Still others participated in mid-level and intense
hikes up mountainsides near town. We then venture further, up 11 switch-backs to an amazing vantage point up the valley.

Once we returned to the ship, we had a very important
visitor in the form of King Neptune. The king never forgets that some of us
have never crossed the Arctic Circle and although we did this a couple of days
ago he still found time in his busy schedule to visit the ship and “ordane” his
new subjects!

Friday, 26 September 2014

Today we woke up in a fjord close to Svartisen, Norway’s second biggest
glacier. The glacier lies just above the Arctic Circle, and extends into
several different valleys, north, south, east and west. From our breakfast
table we can see the glacier bending down a steep and narrow valley, almost
reaching the colorful Norwegian autumn forest below. Next to the sandy beaches
lies big green fields with grassing sheep and cows, and even though it’s
raining it’s a very welcoming sight and we can’t wait to get out!

Once ashore we can confirm that the weather
forecast was right; it’s rainy and windy, but also quite warm, so not really a
problem – after all we can dry up on the ship in front of our TV-screen
fireplace later! The guests are eager to get going despite the weather and
start heading towards the glacier, a few kilometers walking from our landing
site, with spectacular views on the way, including rapid weather
changes(referred to as both English and Norwegian weather!).

Some
guests go as far as we have agreed on, while other use the lovely hut that is
about halfway as a stopover to dry up. The hosts serve sparkling wine with 2000
year old glacier ice and it’s a big hit! The fireplaces are lit and there is
room for everyone, a perfect place to have a rest on a day like this. Around
1300 we head back to the ship, wet to the bone, but with big smiles all around.
Drying up after being outside in the rain makes you appreciate things you
perhaps didn’t think of before.

The rest of the day is spent with lectures,
briefings for the next day, cruising, and of course the expedition staff quiz! Before the quiz lectures were stopped so that we could all witness the crossing of the Arctic Circle, marked by a monument in the form of the globe. In the next day or so, King Neptune will no doubt visit the ship to inaugurate those who crossed this "line" for the first time. Later we
will also have the legendary crew show, so this should be a proper Friday!

The reason we went to Svartisen was to seek
some shelter from an incoming storm. However, in order to make our schedule we
have to move south, so now we are going into the storm during the evening and
the night. Fram is already rocking steadily, but it handles wind and waves with
such ease it’s simply amazing! Now and then we pop out on deck 7 to play in the
wind, but it doesn’t take long before we run freezing in again with saltwater
in our hair and big smiles on our faces.

Tonight we will be rocked to bed by Mother
Nature herself, can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring, life is good and
spirits high!

Thursday, 25 September 2014

Today’s blog is written by Johannes C. Apon, Arctic Nature Guide and owner of Outdoorlife
Norway.

I feel lucky to have gotten the opportunity
to join the M/S Fram, as a trainee, on her expedition from Longyearbyen on
Svalbard to Bergen on mainland Norway. Being new on this vessel, and having
grown up in the flat Netherlands, I feel grateful to participate in the many
logistical processes on board, work together with inspiring colleagues, interact
with our lovely guests from all around the world, and visit all these beautiful
places on Svalbard and along the Norwegian coast. Blue glaciers and ice bergs, rugged
mountains, breathtaking fjords, dancing Northern Lights and majestic creatures
like the polar bear, fin whales and eagles: this expedition has it all.

Today’s landing took place at the village
of Oppeid, on the island of Hamarøy in Northern Norway. Hamarøy is best known
for being home to Knut Hamsun (1859-1952), a famous Norwegian author, who was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. In Oppeid, the guests got the
opportunity to visit the Hamsun Centre, devoted to Hamsun’s life and writing, and
famous for its architecture.

Landings (going on shore) provide a very
nice opportunity to stretch your legs, explore and interact with nature from a
different perspective. While our guests were enjoying the architecture and
scenery, Expedition Team members Stian and Thomas – who together with me, for
reasons we can only speculate on, go under the nick-name “Backstreet Boys”,
given to us by the crew and rapidly adopted by the passengers – took a little
group of enthusiasts on an extended hike to a hill top. From here, they enjoyed
some very scenic views.

I was invited to join our Danish (living on
Greenland) kayak guide Jimmy as second guide and of course I said yes. Together
with nine guests, we made a three hour long easy-going paddling excursion along
the shore, following the inlets and bays around Hamarøy. The guests were
paddling in pairs in tandem kayaks. After they had figured out how to
coordinate the paddling and steering, I noticed how silent the group became. We
didn’t say much. We didn’t think much. We just enjoyed the beauty around us and
interacted with nature. Noticed the bright autumn colors of the forest on
shore. Felt the clear cold Arctic water running through our fingers. Pointed at
starfish and other small creatures on the sea bottom. Sensed the absence of
noise. Ate delicious chocolate while resting on a desolate beach in a small
bay. We simply seized the moment, without any concerns or distractions. That
must be one of the highest commodities in our modern society. After the trip,
the guests thanked Jimmy and me for the trip. But we hadn’t done much more than
let nature speak for itself.

Back at what after just a week already
feels like home, the M/S Fram set its “sails” for Kjerringøy, a small
peninsula, to enjoy white sand beaches and sharp mountain peaks plunging
straight into the sea. And I was ready to create and share another memorable
nature experience. Being an Expedition Team member is a tough job, but somebody
has to do it.

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

We continued south along the Norwegian Lofoten Islands to
almost the end today. In the early morning we found ourselves in a very narrow
and very famous fiord called Trollfjord. At the entrance, the fiord is only 100
metres wide but it is plenty deep for a ship like the Fram. In fact all the
Hurtigruten ships travel into the fiord in the summer time both going north and
south. Some passengers decided to take the optional Polar Cirkel boat ride out
of the fiord, which was spectacular with the morning light hitting the tops of
the mountains and the Fram following behind. The light show continued as we exited
the fiord and into Raftsund and ran south towards Vestfjorden and open water.
Along the way we had great views of several majestic European Sea Eagles.

Eventually the Polar Cirkel boats and the Fram ended their
respective journeys in Svolvær, a bustling centre in the Lofoten region. Their
we stopped at the quayside for several ours and enjoyed all that this
delightful town had to offer. It became clear in Svolvær and later on in the
day in Å, how important fishing, and in particular cod, is to the local economy
of the Lofoten Islands. We saw the drying racks for salt cod in several places,
including the town of Svolvær.

Later in the afternoon we were planning a landing at the
southern tip of the Lofoten chain, at Å, but wind conditions were not good for
tendering to the shore there so we adjusted our plans and went alongside at Reine,
then bussed down to Å. There,we were treated to a fantastic tour of this
historic community, which still has cod liver oil running through its veins!

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

We started
our day with whale watching around 07:00 hours. The sea in front of Bleiksegga
is famous for its population of Sperm Whales, but this morning we were not successful in seeing any. The only whales we should see today have been the whale pictures in
Tomas´ whale lecture!

FRAM
reached our destination of the today, Skipnes and Tinden, after lunch at 13:00. The weather has been magnificent. The sun was shining out of a
clear blue sky. The autumn vegetation - like the northern birches - was
glimmering in the sun.

Skipnes and
Tinden are two old fishing settlements, but today they have more importance for
the tourism than for the fishing industry. Most of the houses are now a museum
and we all had the possibility for a guided tour of the buildings

Off the Skipnes wharf we saw several types of jellyfish swimming.

Those
passengers who liked to hike got the possibility for a good nature walk from one
settlement to the other one. The others moved between the villages in our
Polarcirkel boats. Most of the passengers took the chance for a hike through the
tundra, especially under this amazing weather conditions. Even though the hike was
perhaps for some guests a bit hard, we have to say: “congratulations to
everybody, you have been brave passengers”. Along the hike we were delighted to see many plant and fungi species.

Even nearly
everybody has been quite tired after such a sunny and active landing we could
not go to bed early. An amazing Northern Light forced us to dress up warm again
and to stay outside for a longer time. Many photos havebeen taken this
evening, but to stand once under the Northern Light, that gives a feeling you
will never ever forget.

Monday, 22 September 2014

As we sailed south from Bjørnøya, you could feel the air
getting just a little warmer. This morning we could see land- the north coast
of Norway. And then we saw trees cladding the hills on one side of the sound we
sailed through on our way to Tromsø. Having not seen any trees for the last few
days, they were a delight, made more so by their changing colours of autumn.
Some snow squalls ran over us as if to remind that we were after all at 70°
north!

We arrived into Tromsø just after lunch in brilliant light
and blue skies. The sun never gets really high in the sky in the Arctic, even
in mid-summer, but now the sun stays relatively low and makes for wonderful
images. There is also a warmth to the light, belying the temperatures, which
were around 5°C. Tromsø has many old buildings, unlike Finnmarken to the north and east- the most northerly part of Norway- which lost many buildings at the end of WWII.

Old warehouses stand at the old shoreline, all with their characteristic little winch houses at the top front.

The first residence in Tromsø to have electricity

One of the modern buildings in Tromsø- The Polaria- Polar Aquarium

Tromsø is a fine place, sophisticated and bustling, but
always with the reminder of where you are provided by the surrounding
mountains, this day covered in a light dusting of snow that had fallen the
previous evening. We had about 6 hours to enjoy the place, which people did by
visiting the city of over 70,000 people, taking a guided walk around the city, or climbing the mountain over on
the mainland and coming down by cable car. There is so much to see and do in
Tromsø that you really need a week to sample the restaurants and coffee shops,
visit the museum, aquarium and many historical points of interest. One thing is
clear, Roald Amundsen figures prominently in this city!

It is the sort of place that beckons you back, as evidenced
by the many people on-board the Fram for whom this is not the first trip, nor
will it be their last.

MV FRAM is the most modern expedition cruise vessel belonging to the Hurtigrutenfleet, roaming polar waters and taking people to remote places where only few go. In order to give you the chance to travel with us, even if only on your computer screen, we have created this blog. Here you can see what we have seen and read what we have done.

MV FRAM's voyage is followed by

About

The expedition team consists of lecturers and guides from various fields and backgrounds such as ornithology, mammalogy, history, and geology, ready to tackle all your questions. Together with the fabulous Fram officers and crew we make your time on board REALLY worthwhile!